To start this letter, let me say that I recently took a weeklong hiatus from school to go home on an important personal matter, and upon my return I was struck by a bit of smug amusement (but not shock).
First of all, our official campus newspaper had recently hired the chairman of the College Democrats as one of its newest opinion writers (nothing against Ben Lenet and his writing capabilities, but you would have thought the bias could be hidden a little bit better). Lenet recently published an article articulating the Democratic Party’s great unifying ability in contrast to us divisive conservatives. As I was strolling along having a chuckle over Lenet describing what Democrats “will do” and thinking of ways I could attempt to dispute his argument, I was suddenly undercut by my own political party.
At the EMU last week, a College Republicans-endorsed display – rudely, inaccurately, and dare I say divisively – compared abortion to such horrible things as the Holocaust and the lynching of African Americans. I applaud those members of the College Republicans who resigned over this graphic and unnecessary display. I also encourage our campus branch of fellow conservatives to stop giving ammunition to, and proving the points of, writers such as Lenet, and to start doing things to combat his otherwise arguable statements.
It is degrading and condescending to compare something such as the debate over abortion to such horrific historical atrocities, and I would think individuals such as Anthony Warren and the rest of the Executive Board of the College Republicans would have the ability to recognize this. Bottom line: There are many more appropriate ways to voice the pro-life argument that don’t overly offend or give more reason for people like Lenet to write these types of opinions.
As for Lenet, it would be foolish to believe that the increasing partisan politics today are only the doing of a conservative-dominated government. Lenet must be forgetting such things as the Democratic-led filibusters. In this regrettable day of increasing partisan politics there is not one party to blame, but both, and it is important for both parties to look at this problem and attempt to solve it.
Kyle Collins
University political science major